The oldest types of Germanic writing systems, their approximate dating, graphic characteristics, ...

1. What is the history of Gothic language?

1.1. Gothic language, extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths, who originally lived in southern Scandinavia but migrated to eastern Europe and then to southern and southwestern Europe. The language is especially important for the study of the history of the Germanic language family because its records, except for a few scattered runic inscriptions, antedate those of the other Germanic languages by about four centuries. Gothic occurred in two dialects: Ostrogothic (in eastern Europe and later in Italy) and Visigothic (in east central Europe and later in Gaul and Spain), grouped according to tribes. Most of the modern knowledge of Gothic is derived from the remains of the translation of the Bible into Gothic that was made by Ulfilas in the 4th century CE for the Visigothic tribes living along the lower Danube. The surviving manuscripts are copies probably made in northern Italy during the period of Ostrogothic rule (493–554). The language died out among the Ostrogoths after the fall of their kingdom in Italy in the 6th century; in Spain it is doubtful whether or not Gothic survived among the Visigoths until the Arab conquest in 711.

2. What is the place of Latin alphabet in the history of Germanic writing?

2.1. The Latin alphabet spread among Germanic tribes alongside their conversion into Christianity. The very first Germanic words written in the Latin script were place names and proper names. . Later appeared glosses in manuscripts and with the spread of Christianity the Latin alphabet came to be used for writing in Germanic languages. The Latin alphabet was created in the VIII – VII centuries BC on the basis of Western Greek and Etruscan alphabets.The Latin alphabet was created in the VIII – VII centuries BC on the basis of Western Greek and Etruscan alphabets.

3. What are the oldest types of Germanic writing systems?

3.1. Runic alphabet

3.2. Gothic alphabet

3.3. Latin alphabet

4. What is the origin of runic writing? Name its characteristic features.

4.1. Runic alphabet, also called futhark, writing system of uncertain origin used by Germanic peoples of northern Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland from about the 3rd century to the 16th or 17th century AD. Runic writing appeared rather late in the history of writing and is clearly derived from one of the alphabets of the Mediterranean area. Because of its angular letter forms, however, and because early runic inscriptions were written from right to left like the earliest alphabets, runic writing seems to belong to a more ancient system.